Cornucopia: Meaning Bountiful...A Lot Of

Thanksgiving in New York City has come and gone. My dad and brother came to visit, and we tackled a cornucopia of exciting activities. The festivities began on Wednesday and lasted all the way to Saturday. Nonstop.

First things first: I get word that the fam has arrived in North Bergen, New Jersey at around 5:00 on Wednesday, and they board a bus around 6:00, poised to arrive in the city within 15 minutes. So I scurry on over to the Port Authority Bus Terminal...only to discover that there bus is caught in ca-razy holiday traffic. So I wait (and wait (and wait)), and they finally arrive around 7:15. We quickly scarf down some pizza at Famiglia and hoof it on over to the Helen Hayes by 8:00 for a hysterical performance of The 39 Steps. It was just as funny the second time around, and provided a lovely start to the weekend ahead.

With Thursday came Thanksgiving itself! And what does Thanksgiving in NYC mean?...Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Live! In person! A large group of NYAPers headed out early (really, it was 6:30 a.m., a small price to pay), and we scoured out a prime spot on 42nd St. & 7th Ave. - the parade made a turn here, so we got to see the balloons and floats coming at us, and then do their wondrous turns. After two hours or so of waiting, the parade finally began! We could literally see it coming at us from a mile away - straight up the street from Central Park. And the parade did not disappoint: the balloons were massive and made some frightening turns over our heads/through narrow gaps, the floats were exquisite, the celebrities were...present (I either didn't really know who most of them were, or just didn't care), and the crowd was massive. The experience was thrilling.












After this, we made a trek up to Rockefeller Center (where the not-yet-lit tree stands) and then to Central Park. After accidentally riding an express train all the way up to 125th St. (we wanted 72nd), we finally made it to the park. We stumbled upon the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir, which is huge and I've strangely never seen before, as well as Strawberry Fields, which was sadly not decorated - the homeless man who usually brings the flowers and does the work took the holiday off. We then rested for a little while in preparation for Thanksgiving Dinner, which was not to happen until late at night.

Around 8:30, we finally met up with the Voigt family and headed down to SoHo for our lovely feast at Bistro Les Amis. We arrived just before 9:00 (the time of our reservation) and discovered there were no tables available...so we waited outside (and waited (and waited))...until finally, we were seated at 9:30. Luckily, the wait was well worth it. The meal consisted of bread, carrot ginger soup, salad, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, squash, mashed potatoes, turkey stuffed with sausage and mushrooms, and a choice of pumpkin pie or cheesecake for desert (I had a little of both...). Each and every course was delicious, delectable, and festive. Properly stuffed, we headed back and hit the sack for the night.

Friday was the day of the museum. We first headed back to Central Park to visit the Museum of Natural History. I've missed this place since my first visit more than 5 years ago. The best parts are all the animal exhibits, which display all sorts of creatures in their natural habitats. And of course, the forest, biology, space, and dinosaur exhibits are all fascinating as well. What a wonderful tour - I even learned a little something in the process. After this, we headed to another museum for a less intellectual experience. Yup, we went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. It was so worth it, too. I got my picture taken with all of my favorite celebs: Tyra, Whoopi, *NSYNC, Shakira, The Spice Girls, and even Madame Tussaud herself. They look so real!










Saturday was the last day for dad and Scott in the city. So how did we kick it off? By heading to New Jersey of course! We hopped on the NJ Transit and headed to downtown Hoboken, home of Carlo's Bakery (of the show "Cake Boss"). Unfortunately, upon arriving, we discovered a huge line looping around the block - and it wasn't moving, so it was surely a good hour wait. Well, we didn't have time for that, so we just snapped some pics of the front facade and then headed out. Around the corner, though, we spotted the back alley behind the shop. And emerging from it, bearing two enormous sheet cakes for the crowd, was none other than Mauro (we didn't know his name at the time - I just looked it up). Well, he offered us the cake (I took one of each - chocolate and red velvet) and then we got a nice picture with him. These people are incredibly nice. It was so worth the trip.

After moseying around a nice park in Hoboken for a while, we re-boarded the NJ Transit heading for the World Trade Center. Except that we ended up somewhere else in Jersey and had to wait for the correct train to pick us up there. We ended up a good hour out of our way. The NJ Transit only has five trains, but it's still so confusing. Well, we finally got to lower Manhattan, saw Ground Zero, perused the memorial, and walked along the southern shoreline, catching a distant glimpse of the Statue of Liberty as the sun set. Wow, that was beautifully stated...

And for our last event, we attended a performance of the groundbreaking musical, Next to Normal. Upon entering the theatre, I was disheartened to find that the amazing Alice Ripley would not be performing in the show (let's be honest though, neither dad nor Scott cared - and her understudy was phenomenal anyway). Again, this was my second time seeing the show - and it was even better this time around. Everybody loved it - how could they not?!

So that's the amazing holiday weekend. It was great to see my dad and brother before I embark on my last month in the city (ah!). And it was also terribly convenient, because they drove in, and I was able to send a whole bunch of unnecessary things home - because I can't take it all on a plane. Now that Thanksgiving is over, bring on the winter!